Shaft-hanger



(No MOde I 0 ESPLIN- SHAFT HANGER. No. 366,656. Patented July 19, 1887.

0/ a 2 z a UNITE STATES ATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES ESPLIN, OF MINNEAPOLTS, MINNESOTA.

SHAFT-HANGER.

$PECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 366,656, dated July 19, 18 7- Serial No. 217,686. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, Ouxnnns EsrLIN, of Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State of Minnesota, have invented certain Improvements in Shaft-Hangers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to certain improvements in adj ustable shaft-hangers; and it coir sists, generally, in constructing ahangerof this description which shall have a ready and positive means of adjustment in all directions, and avoiding the possibility of clamping the journal or bringing unnecessary strain upon any part of the journal or hanger.

My invention further consists in the combination and arrangement hereinafter described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

As adjustable hangers have heretofore been constructed the journal-bearing is supported in a swiveling yoke by means of set screws through the'two arms of the said yoke, which bear at their points against the journatbox in the plane of the centcrof the axle, and the lateral adj ustmentis attained by loosening one setscrew and tightening the other. In this operation thereis aliabilityofspringing or compressing the journal-box and causing the journal to heat and to exert an undue strain upon the yoke by the tendency to spread the two arms apart. To overcome this, it is necessary to make the hanger heavier than would be the case i f the strain were more equally distributed. The vertical adjustment in these hangers is made by a similar set-screw bearing upon the under side of the yoke, by which the said yoke and journal box are raised to the proper heighth, thus causing the entire weight of the shaft and journal-bearing to rest upon the end of this set-serew. In some styles of hangers it is inconvenient or impossible to make this arrangement. In my improvement I have overcome all these objections and provide a hanger which can be used and adjusted equally well either for a floor, bracket, or overhead hanger.

In the drawings which form a part of this specification, Figure 1 is an end elevation of my improved hanger. Fig. 2 is a side elevation, and Fig. 3 is a cross-section taken on line cf 0 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a detail showing amodified construction.

I have shown only so much of the hanger as embodies my improvement. The base or socket can be adapted to any of the different styles in common use.

In the drawings, A represents theshaft, and B the journal bearing or box having a cap, B, in the usual manner.

C is a yoke which embraces the journal-box, and is provided with ears or lugs O O.

D is a bearing pin or bolt constructed to receive a wrench at one end and provided with the shoulder D, and screw-threaded at the other end. This bolt passes through thelugs on the yoke O. The lug C is bored to fit the larger portion of the said bolt, and the lug C has a screw-threaded opening which receives the threaded end of the bolt. Thcbolt is prevented from turning by the setscrew 0. The bolt 1') also passes through the journalbearing B centrally and at right angles with the shaft A, and is secured to the said j ournalbearing by the shoulder D and nuts or collars D D. By means of these double nuts the journalbearing may be held rigidly in its position against the shoulder D, but may be free to oscillate upon the bearingbolt.

E is a spindle, made, preferably, in one piece with the yoke O and screw threaded at its lower end to receive the nut E, which may be further secured by the pin E.

F is a sleeve which fits upon the spindle E between the under side of the yoke and the nut E, and in which the said spindle is allowed to swivel. The upper end of this sleeve is preferably provided with a collar, F, and from the collar to its lower end the external surface is screw-threaded.

F is a set-screw through the collar F, which bears upon the spindle, which may be used to hold the yoke in place after it has been adj usted.

G is a socket or base of the hanger, having an internal screw-thread, into which the sleeve F fits.

The operation is as follows: After the hanger is placed in position the line adjustment necessary to bring it to perfect line may be attained for the perpendicularvariation by turm ing the sleeve F to the right or left, as the case may be. The exterior of this sleeve being screw-threaded,this operation causes it to raise or lower in the socket G and to carry with it thespindle Eand the yoke and journal-bear,- ing attached thereto until the properheight is reached. The spindle E is free to swivel in the sleeve, andwwill thus adjust itself to any horizontal angle required. The lateral adjustment is made by turning the bearing-bolt D. This belt, which is held in the journalbearing by means of the shoulder D and set nuts D D, is free to revolve in said journalbearing; but any end motion of the bolt causes a corresponding movement of the journalhearing, and, as one end of the said bolt is screw-threaded in the lug C of the supporting-yoke O, turning the bolt to the right or left causes it to advance or recede in the said lug and carry with it thejournal -box. This operation is continued until thejournal-bearing is brought to the exact line.

The journal-bearing oscillates upon the bolt 1) and accommodates itself to any vertical angle with the shaft. After the adjustment has been ompleted, the set-screws 0 and F may be driven to clamp the bearing-bolt and spindle and prevent the adjustment from being changed.

It will be seen that in my journal-bearing the strains are all carried in the direction of the weight and no undue stress is exerted upon one portion to support another, and by screwthr'eading the sleeve F and operating it from the top I am enabled to adapt my hanger to places where it would be impossible to get the ordinary form of vertical adjustment.

By securing the yoke to the socket or base of the hanger in the manner described, the nut E bears upon the under side of the spindle E,

and is thus held in position against any upward pullnpon the journal-bearing,as the yoke cannot be forced from the socket without first Where there is no liability to an upward strain or'lift upon the shaft, I may use the form of attaching the journal-bearing to the bolt D which is shown in Fig. 4:,in which casethe jburnabbearing is provided with two lugs, and the bearing-bolt has a recess turned in its surface to receive the said lugs. This does away with the use of the nuts or collars D D, and mayin some instances be preferable.

What I claim as my invention is- 1. The combination, in a Shafthanger, of the vertically-pivoted yoke 0, provided With the arms 0 O, the bolt D, extending through said arms and longitudinally adjustable therein, and the journal-box secured to the said bolt and moving therewith, but capable of oscillating freely thereon, substantially as described,

2. In a shaft-hanger, the combination of the journal-box B, the pivoted yoke G, the bearing-bolt D, attached to said journal-box and adjustable in said yoke, the screw-threaded sleeve F, adjustable in the base G, and the nut E, attached to the spindle E of said yoke and bearing upon the sleeve F, substantially as described.

CHARLES ESILIN. Witnesses: v

A. C. PAUL, A. M. GASKELL. 

